Any chance at Notre Dame?

Feel like my grades strong and good ECs. Know my ACT not quite as high as average accepted. Wondering if I have a chance with the grades and ECs.

Demographics:
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White
State: Ohio
School: Public High School

Intended Major: Engineering
Academics: Weighted GPA: 4.3 (ranked 13/250)
Unweighted GPA: 4.
ACT: 31
*no sat subject tests

AP World: 5
AP Govt:: 5
AP Eng Lang: 5
AP Lit :5
*Taking AP Psych, AP Calculus, and Physics senior year
School is smaller so taking all APs offered

Extracurriculars:
300 volunteer hours at aquarium in town as naturalist and crew leader
4 years cheerleading, 3 on varsity and one JV - captain of JV and Varsity
3 years in drama, performed in 6 musical theater productions and currently vice president of drama. Also performed in community theater in summers in selective program
3 years National Honor Society, currently secretary
4 years in Spanish Club
4 years student council, currently secretary of class
4 years concert band, flute

It is fine to apply and give it your all, but ND is a reach for you. As you noted the big weakness in your application is the ACT which is below the 25th percentile for the school. The middle 50% for ACT scores for enrolled students at ND is 33 - 35.

Apply to Saint Mary’s (literally across the street). They offer co-Ex with ND, 3-2 degree programs with ND, offer great merit aid and have a good transfer record if that’s what you ultimately want. You are part of the ND student section, have access to 150 clubs and a joint newspaper. And you can try out to be on ND’s cheer team or pom squad. They had a least one cheerleader and one pom squad girl from Saint Mary’s in the graduating class of 2017.

300 volunteer hours at one thing shows you’re dedicated and not just doing it for the hours, so kudos on that, very impressive. That being said, as far as I can tell about how ND admissions go, the three things that seem to matter the most are 1) test scores- for REA they should probably be near the top or above the 1390-1530 (32-35 ACT) range given for mid 50%) 2) GPA- Unweighted GPA of 4.0 very impressive for you. 3) Interest shown in ND (college visit).

Your ACT is a tad bit low but good luck Monday. If you visited ND that should help you out too.

Direct from the ND FAQ page: “Because we receive applications from all over the world, a visit to Notre Dame will not affect an admissions decision.” http://admissions.nd.edu/apply/faqs/

You have a lot of good going for you – GPA, rank @5%, rigor and ECs that include leadership positions. The only issue is the ACT score. I don’t think it completely removes you from consideration, but it does make it harder. ND values “fit” and claims to look at apps holistically, so hopefully they will see something in your essays/recs that will be a tipping point for you. They also claim to place a lot of importance on rigor of high school course load as the best predictor of college success, so that’s a plus for you. There is a chance you could be offered ND Gateway Program (freshman year at Holy Cross and then transfer) so research that as an option. You can’t apply, the University offers the program to a small number of students. Also, I agree with the above poster, that applying to St. Mary’s and trying to transfer is an option too. My daughter is a current student at ND and I know she is friends with students from both Holy Cross and St. Mary’s, they are very well integrated into the ND campus classes, clubs and social scene. Good luck!

@VegasRoller I’ve seen that too BUT, that is a general page and overall the website really quells a lot of concerns. In my opinion, if you live in Indiana or a state reasonable driving distance ND (Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, etc.), they will be looking to see if you visited. Though not visiting won’t HURT you, it could, in my opinion and based on what I’ve read on last year’s admissions threads and such, HELP you have you visited. They sign you in and keep a list for a reason.

@howdy99 good point. My DS decided not to spend the $3,000 on airfare and hotel to visit because of what was said on the website. We live on the east coast. In retrospect, maybe a mistake. Anyway, he had already applied, and visiting after application is submitted is apparently no help.

@VegasRoller It won’t hurt you if you haven’t visited. There are plenty who have been on campus without “signing in” and there are plenty that have never been at all. That’s why they have virtual tours and admitted student days.

One really big negative in your application I noticed is that due to the “holistic approach”, they are going to see your 4.0 GPA and AP classes, but then also see your low ACT score which could signal grade inflation among your classes at your school and greatly lessen the worth of having the 4.0. However, at the same time the 5s on all of the AP test you have taken does sort of balance that out. Anyway, I wish you the best of luck!